Improvement in finger-bars for harvesters



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIoE.

RUFUS DUTTON, OF YONKERS, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN FINGER-BARS FOR HARVESTERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 158,051, dated December 22, 1874; application filed March 9, 1874.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Horns DUTTON, of Yonkers, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Harvester Finger- Bars, of which the following is a specification:

It is the object of my invention to construct a double-ribbed finger-bar which shall have the greatest degree of stiffness with the least weight of metal, the ribs furnishing level and continuous supports or bearings for the knife, both in front and rear of the knife-back.

The back-support, being raised above the upper surface of the main portion or body of the fin ger-bar,will not be liable to wear through the accumulation of dirt and grit upon the bearing made by the knife resting upon it.

In the drawings, Figure l is a plan view, showing a part of the bar with a finger and knife-section; Fig. 2, a vertical section of the same.

The finger-bar is made with a main portion or body, A, having, at or near its front edge, two ribs, a and I). These ribs form parallel supports in the same horizontal plane for the knife-sections G. The space between the ribs is hollowed out, as shown, to a depth preferably extending below the top of the main portion of the bar. As the ribs a and I) are raised considerably above the upper surface of the main portion or body A of the bar they serve the double purpose of stiffening the bar and forming elevated supports for the knife. The dirt and grit accumulating upon the top of the knife while operating will work back and over the end of the knife, and drop down upon the top of the body of the bar, and out of the way of the bearing 0 upon the rib I). Wheu the bearing for the knife, as usually made, is upon the top of the finger-bar, and level with its upper surface, dirt and grit accumulating upon the knife are very liable to work between the knife and the finger-bar, causing wear, and allowing the back of the knife to drop down, and thereby raise the front end of the knifesections from the lower surface of the slot in the fingers B. As the ribs a and b are of uniform height and level on their upper surfaces, which are also in line with the under surface of the slot in the guard-finger, the knife-sections, both in front and rear of the knife-back D, have a smooth level surface to rest upon, and lie close upon the surfaces of the slots in the guards. The guard-finger and finger-bar may be united by means of a bolt, E, and a steady or dowel pin, F.

The space between the knife-back and the bottom of the groove in the fingerbar, between the ribs 00 and Z), permits the escape of any dirt or grit which may accumulate, and thereby prevents clogging.

I claim as my invention As an article of manufacture, the finger-bar formed with a main portion or body, A, and ribs to and I) at and near its front edge, projecting above the upper surface of its body, substantially as set forth.

R. DUTTON.

Witnesses: v

THEODORE FITCH, WM. 1. FITCH. 

